Home Decor Wanna Be

Bookshelves in progress.  Adding more of my own art.  

As I mentioned the last day, I want to be more supportive of my artistic self, in an attempt to be my authentic self.  

I LOVE CUTE!!!!  No sophisticated rooms for me!  

One of the things that I have NEVER done, was to hang my own art in my own home.  Sure, Ive painted walls, canvases and things for other people.  But rarely do I keep anything for me.  And if I do, I keep it crammed in the Studio.  

Gallery wall layout ideas.  

Well no more.  

Home Decor.  I love so many styles.  And there in is the problem.  I love so many styles.  I envy people that can do one color scheme through out their entire home.  But that does not seem to be me.  AND Sweet Hub, always has to put his two cents in (this used to drive my Mom crazy).  

INSPIRATION!

Love the bright happy colors!  BH&G New Cottage Style book 

BH&G, Refresh, special interest publication.  Love the way a simple pillow color change makes it all different.

But he has agreed that I should use more of my artwork in our decor and that if "cottage" is my thing (its certainly not his), then he can live with it.  Looking forward to warmer days to be able to paint furniture.  Estate sale finds are gonna be the norm.  And my own artwork.  Lots of it!  

PS Other bloggers whose home decor inspires me:

http://www.jenniferrizzo.com
http://redshoesa2.blogspot.com
http://lifemadelovely-blog.com/tag/home-made-lovely/

Freshening up My Home Decor

I ran across the above pic on Pinterest several weeks ago.  Since I seem to be returning to my "cottage roots" in my home decor, I loved the overall look of it.

AFTER

AFTER

BEFORE

BEFORE:  This was the corner of my room that I wanted to add a little "pop" to.

Based on the components that were in Back Porch's pic, I gathered the home decor goods that I had that were similiar to the ones she had.  I only wanted to use what I had on hand.

The shutters came from the guest bedroom and while I liked the dark green, the neutral side seemed a little "fresher" and lighter and went along with the brighter colors in the throw and picture.

So here is my finished look!  I'm happy with the transformation.  Now this cozy corner beckons for someone to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee or to sit and read a bit.

Thanks Back Porch Musings for the "Pinspiration".

Home Tour House Prep Continues

The velvet curtain is really a vintage curtain for a child's play theater.  The coral umbrella adds a pop of color.

Here are a few shots of the room that I've been working in for the past few weeks.  Since this photo, we've moved the bed and I've added a small painting of a bird right above the umbrella.  

Old suitcases make the perfect holder for a collection of odd goodies.

 "D" already had the table and wall shelf in place, I just added the "dressings" on the table and re-arranged the goodies on the shelf.  Pinks and browns are some of my favorites too.  This is such a pretty room to work in.   

A small vignette of a curtain pull back, metal bird, broken watch and spools of velvet trim.  

My painting.  I'm going to go back over this with a piece of steel wool as "D" wants it to look as though it has been on the wall for a long, long time.  That will soften the edges of the design and hopefully take down the color a bit.  

To break up all the softness, Sandra got the brilliant idea to add some coral to the mix and then several of the accents have touches of black, so it keeps it from being too sweet. 

Goodies piled into a suitcase.

That's just some of the room. We've got a few more details to add.  I will take a few shots once we have the room completed.  It really is turning out to be a lovely guest room.

A Work in Progress on a house

Week two, of my doing some paint work and re-arranging on my friend "D's" home, as she gets her house ready to be on the home tour in June.

 As I was waiting for some paint to dry, I thought I would wander around and just snap some pics of the wonderful vignettes that are in her home.

 Love this chair and the sweet hat and pillow.

This grouping of old photo's, glasses and mementos sits atop a vintage dresser, as if someone were reminiscing.  

 My friend has a fondness for all things "statue".  And she has several lovely ones in her home, but this one is my favorite.  

 I love that she is holding a bird in her hands.

 Such a whimsical shade, almost in a state of "undress".  Loads of lace and cheesecloth, with drippy crystals.  Very sweet.  

 Which leads me back to this guy.  "D" says that she bought it with all the lovely goods already tucked into the basket at his feet, she just added an old photo of her Mom.  The "ribbon" music sheet was a find elsewhere.  

Well, I hope you enjoyed my "wanderings'.  I'll post next on the room that I'm working in.  Pity I forgot to take before pics of all the painting that my friend Sandra is doing.  I think we actually made "D's" husband cry when he came home and found out we had painted several wood pieces.  :)  Till then...

Fun Shop, Texas Pearls & Company!

Wall of Shutters

My favorite quote from the book Peter Pan is this, "It is wonderful what clever girls can do".   I love that.  Its put the focus on the positive and uses a word that we American's don't use nearly enough.  The word "clever".  

With all that being said, let me show you the shop of my friend Mandy, who is a very clever girl indeed.  

Mandy, along with her biz partner Julie, loves junk and home decor.  And paint.  And it all makes for a wonderful combination.  They put the "fun" in funky, y'all.  

Love this spiraling upwards display of vintage framed crewel work.

Old lamp shades almost look like bells, hanging in a mass.

Their favorite thing to do is to give old junk a facelift. Clever combo's of added wood bits and a fresh spot of paint can do wonders for a piece of furniture that has seen better years. And speaking of paint, they carry two wonderful lines and teach classes on how you can repaint your own vintage (or new) pieces.

Country Living Paint, as well as...

Maison Blanche.  Heck, even the cans are cute!

Cute home decor, props for weddings and showers and more, are just what you will find at Teas Pearls & Co.  Go see em at www.texaspearls.com or www.facebook.com/Texas Pearls.  And tell em, Yapping Cat sent ya.   Cause she is very clever too!

To Market, To Market

So many things to love here!  The pink against the green.  The screen door.  The overlaying of the mirrors.  

Like you, I wear many hats.  When I'm not in the Studio creating, I might be in the office planning a retreat or some creative classes.  And when I'm not doing that, I'm usually at my "real job".  

Huge display in a window, this is the top.  Loved the way the chair seems to be balanced on the table and stack of suite cases.  And the pop of green with the Mother-in-Law Tongue plant (which was hot in the 70's).

And just what is that you ask?  Well, my real job is putting together displays, decorating the windows and putting out new merchandise for a wonderful store called, The Dove's Nest.  

This is the bottom of the above photo.  Sorry a little blurry.  I was trying to not get caught.  LOL.

And one of the perks of my job is getting to go to Dallas Market.  Dallas Market holds a major show, twice a year, for shop owner's to come and see new merchandise to and buy stuff for their stores. 

I love shutters.  So I really loved this piece worked in as a piece of art, with framed art on top.  

When we were there last week, I snapped some pics of a few of the displays that were inspiring to me.  Seems like I'm always on the hunt for a way to freshen things up in the store or to just present something in a way that it will inspire our customers.  And I was on visual overload at market.  Which I loved.

Green.  Green is supposed to be THE color for 2013.  And I saw lots of it.  Love the mix here of peely/shabby with the mirrored edge framed artwork.  

I think we all want to learn new ways to keep things fresh in our homes.  Or how to work that wonderful new goodie into our existing decor.  Either way, when it comes to display, well that's my thing.

Love, love, love the paper treatment on the bookcase.  Especially loved the backwards books.   Great use of texture and color.  

I got a new phone right before we left for Market on Friday, so I snapped some pics of arrangements that I found interesting.  

Loved the whimsy of this.  I think it cascaded from the window and across the wall.  Loads of paper crafted flowers on a wire.  I'm sure it took someone ages to create them all.

So many wonderful, creative arrays that caught my eye.  Some don't really show off product as much as they just pull you in.  Which, I think, is what a great window display should do.  As anyone who has gone to an Anthropologies knows.  

I loved the overall look of this, the dark vs light.  The texture of the shred in the basket.  Really wonderful. 

So that's just a little peek into what I do when I'm NOT in the Studio.  Thanks for letting me give you a glimpse of the other part of my world.